New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-06-13
IGNORING LAW AND TREATY.
THE ALASKA SEAL FISHERIES AGAIN.
WHAT THE LAWS OF CONGRESS- REoUIRE-coNsk-
QUgNCEs OF MR.. BAYARD's ACTION
DIFFERENTIATION OF THE
rEr TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrnuvE.I

SEALS IN ALASKA.
rBr TELEGRAPH THE rRIBuvEl'
WASH GTos June 12-In a recent publication. evf
IDENTITY Inspired by Secretary Bayard and said TO have
been written by officer Of the State Department, re-
speeding the jurisdiction United states Behr
Ing sea, several statements made which will be
likely to arrest the attention OF Congress and provoke
lively discussion in that body next winter One Of
them Is;
%Sen 5 the President for satisfactory himself
% Ra @ Than rse Of e @ 1Srs
closed AL discussion to the legality Of the captures
Another passage reads:
II fgq Bsa SP divine THAT the s %
to Of capturing foreign vessels unless detected
uoh OF tho ned states namely three miles from Shore
These statements taken together mean that the Ad
mnisraon intends to ignore certain laws OF Congress
which have been in force for nearly twenty years by
the act approved July %. 1868 Congress provided:
That the laws of the United States relating customs
and navigation be and the hereby extend
territory ce the the d v ,s sn Of q Rp
STA solar as the same may be applicable thereto.
In Article OF the treaty the western boundary Of the
territory ceded Is described as followsi
Dominion conveyed contained through point in
at the Initial point proceed. thence "
7z Ts fGai sacs ea the in
a sss % that meridian IN Grscor
that meridian.
When the purchase of Alaska under discussion In
the Senate, Mr.. Sumner chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations described tho western boundary as
leavng the prolonged group OF the Aeutan Islands in
the possession transferred to the United States and
making the western boundary Of country the
dividing line which separates America from ASIA
Again., he said in part OF Behring Sea there
five considerable Islands, the largest Of which is st.
Lawrence. being than ninetysix miles long" Thus
it appears that the territory which Congress
tended the laws Of the United States relating to customs
commerce and navigation by the act of 1863 included
our part OF Behrng Sea" defined by the treaty OF
cession and expressed by Senator sumner
Moreover, by a joint resolution approved March 3,
1869, Congress provided that the islands of 81. Paul
and st. George, In Alaska, be and they hereby
declared q special reservation for Government pur-
poses" etc These island, the OF what
Mr. Sumner called our part OF Behring Sea- and they
described in the resolution being ia Alaska" 1t
would seem that when the President and the Senate by
treaty which has all the force Of law have established
the boundar. Of newly acquired territory, and
when Congress las extended laws OF the United States
said territory according TO such boundaries, the
Executive Department bound by such treaty and
laws while they remain In force AS matter OF fact
the laws referred to and Others for the protection Of fur
seals In Alaskan waters steadily enforced by every
President from andrew Johnson down 10 Chester A.
Arthur. In March. ISL, the United states gave notice
through the Treasury Department that It's Jurisdiction
tho waters OF Alaska extends TO the western
boundary line above described and that all penalties
prescribed by law against the killing OF fur bearing
animals would attach to any violation OF law within
the limits before described" The terms OF this notice
provoked protest from Great Britain any other
Power II respected and obeyed until the incoming
OF Administration which seemed willing II not
anxious 10 surrender American rights and interests at
the demand of Great Britain From time TO time awless
skppers had invaded Alaskan waters for the purpose OF
killing SEALS but the damage inflicted by them had
bccu comparatively slight But during the nrst GUNNER
and autumn Of MIR. Ceyelands Administration general
raid Organized 10y vessels sailing under the Britl.h
flag and more than $4,000 Alaska sealsklns taken IN
violation oi law sold In London AT the end or the
sealing season eight vessels hying the British nag
entered port OF Victoria H. C., with cargOe5 OF seal
taken ia violation OF the act Of 1870 to prevent
the determination OF fur bearing animals in Alaska"
The eight cargoes amounted TO 1906 sealsklns.
Emboienod by and by the habby attitude OF the
Administration the plunderers ORGANIZED a su more
extensive raid and ia 1855 more than 10000 sealskns
seal, which were destroyed the skins OF which not
taken Fourteen vessels which sailed from Victoria took
ing l.jso skins seized by the revenue cutter
CorNn. and afterwaTd released BY order oil Pres
II may be well to remember that every sealskin taken
to the United states Of SO IL The 81 ss4 skins which
taken by the Victoria scalers last year Therefore
the cement offered by the Administration 10 tAe
vioaters OF the law there can be no doubt that the
present will witness wholesale destruction OF
seals IN the waters OF Alaska. The consequences OF
adherence TO the policy rs outlined In the statements
quoted the beginning easy TO foresee In the light
OF past history In i've years the seals will disappear
from Behrlng and its Islands. In seventeen years
the revenues tho Government from the fur seals OF
Alaska have amounted 10 more than - 100000, sum
equal to that paid by the United States for Alaska
For fifteen years tho exclusive right OF the United
states regulate control the taking Of seals the
island. and In the OF Alaska denied by
body; for fOrtyhyo prior TO the beginning OF
that period the exclusive right or Russia To regulate ana
control the industry In the territory. north
OF 90 degrees, had been admitted on all hands The
controversy I'm 1891 between the United States and
Great Britain the side and Russia on the other,
grew out Of the claim OF Russia 10 exclusive dominion
over the coast islands and waters between latitude OIL
and latitude 55S. $500
In his Instructions to the American Minister at St
Petersburg respecting the negotiations which resulted IN
the treaty Of 1924, the Secretary Of STATE MI Adams,
wrote:
with regard to the territorial claim separate from the
right traffic the natives AMI from any syatem OF coo
NAL exclusion willing TO agree u Tho boundary lho
within Emperor Paul had granted exclusive prv
to the Russian American CompAny-thlt Is 10 say a'
tude 90 degrees.
The dominion OF Russia much OF the region de-
scrbed by secretary Adams as lies within inc bOunda-
ries OF Alaska transferred to the United states |
twenty years ago. And Secretary Bayard, II ap-
pears has determined TO ignore not only tho treaty put
The laws and surrender the dOmnion thus acquired